Your walls become you

A friend has recently refurbished her study/guest room and I chanced to see it yesterday. The carpet is gone, replaced by wood flooring, the book shelves are being consolidated, the day bed has new quilt and pillows. The walls are painted a fresh green. So, I asked her, what are you going to put on the walls?

She covers her walls just as I do. Family photos, she was thinking, since this was the room the grandkids slept in. She'd run across some new ideas beyond the straight frame it and nail it up.

So I got to thinking about walls. It really bothers me to enter a house and find nothing on the walls. It's as if the owner's mind is blank also. I need action on walls; I need to walk up and study the contents in the frame or shadow box. I need to see YOU reflected in what you present to the world on your walls.

(As an aside, I'm not too fond of beige/off-white walls either unless you're trying to sell the place. Color. Please.)

I sometimes think I don't have another square inch to spare for something on the walls. The living room is pretty well spoken for; the den has room above the piano if I tried hard to balance. The kitchen? Oh, please, although I did manage to put one more above the doorway which I'd moved from the den and the piano when I finally gave into temptation and treated myself to a new painting by a favorite local artist. (That's another thing. I'm collecting local artists. Have a few to go.)

Currently, we're marching up the stairs with vacation mementos and photos. The Mediterranean starts it off and now Canada is beside it. I found old Canadian postcards of the places we'd been and put them in an arrangement. Really looks good. Our Aussie boxes are in the den.

So, fill your walls. Invite me over. Tell me the story. Let me learn about you.